The Winter Olympics could have overshadowed events in Ukraine, but they didn’t. The harrowing human dramas and, above all, the number of casualties in Kiev meant that Ukraine replaced the Olympics at the top of the international news agenda as the games in Sochi, Russia, drew to a close. The spirit of Olympic peace was shattered.

Even so, Sochi remains significant, especially for Poles. Polish athletes won six medals, four of them golds – more than at all previous Winter Olympics put together.

As usual in such cases, I am amazed to see how easily we replace the pronoun “they” with “we.” It’s no longer Justyna Kowalczyk, Kamil Stoch and Zbigniew Bródka who won gold medals (Stoch twice over); we won them, each and every Pole. It is at such moments that community instincts are born or gain strength, prompting everyone to identify with the winners. We feel a sense of success, and success gives people wings, stimulates and energizes them.

A gold Olympic medal is like a powerful reflector throwing a beam of light on the hero and his country. And four gold medals produce a lot of light.

Kowalczyk, Stoch and Bródka stood on the highest tier of the Olympic podium and their names will go down in history. And for that they deserve to be heartily congratulated.